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Its been happening for weeks, this phenomenon. Professors of differing backgrounds coming up missing world round, a mystery unexplained yet theorized by officials and nutjobs alike. Days of research into this brought about the answer to this seemingly random choosing, they were anything but. The nappings centered around their professed disciplines mostly engineers and chemist.
They immediately suspected Bishop but thought better of it, he'd be more subtle and less ostentatious in his abduction. The Dragons were out as was Shredder, highly unlikely for the government to be involved leaving an alien invasion which led to Kraang. Planned and prepared they set out for action, it was to be a simple stakeout, a way of info-gathering but not all went to plan.
They were spotted whether for heightened surveillance or being spotted the results remained. They fought and all but one made it out. He was set to work immediately once recognized but the Kraang commander as one who not only understanding of their tech but also had a thorough familiarity with the mutagen. He was a valuable asset.
Confined with hundreds of abducted like-minded individuals forced to complete the technodrome and finalize the mutagenic formula. All wore nonremovable collars that Don recognized as a universal translator. They were under surveillance all 24 hours, offered the necessities of food and bedding which concluded to a blanket and the cooled metal floor. They were to work without breaks until the night where the only meal was served before bed. It goes without saying he was immediately alienated within the prisons, but their forced collaboration allowed later for comradery, familiarity, and hostility.
Days would pass as more scientist and engineers alike were added to the group before, 50 people in total before the people added stopped. A week would pass before one of them died, overwork. The man was old well beyond his prime and the lifeless corpse was taken and that was that. Fear and panic overcame the people thereafter, the pacifistic turtle's attempts to calm the people did little as they were just as frightened of himself. Some fought back against the impossible odds or refused to work, these people were disposed of and dragged from the room. Forced to continue working the surviving submitted through gritted teeth and silently weeping forms, Don included. He kept the idea of their survival in the forefront of his mind, he couldn't allow another death, not if he could help it.
His first attempted was planned, a way to snuff out the outer walls. He hadn't gotten far with their upgraded security, shot with their paralyzers left him down for the count and he was brought back with his first warning. A rare statement seeing how everyone else wasn't given much of a warning themselves. It would be through this attempt he would share his newfound knowledge with the group, earning some respect and other humanity.
The idea of breaking out was on everyone's mind, some discarded the concept afraid of its implications while others remained indecisive, unspoken and unwilling to take the next step. Don was the first to make the conceptual tangible, and with some hesitation from a certain few, they all eventually rallied alongside him.
He knew himself to be a valuable asset to the Kraang though he wasn't curious to know what the next warning installed as such he held off from escaping from then on. They have to be smart about this, their strategy was built through a grapevine with Don at its center. Conversation was under breath during working hours and whispers during sleep. A week would pass before another died, amongst the rising forms all but one woke. She was young and when checked by Don before her taking he'd discover opened soars and skin burns, signs of radiation. He turned away to the vault of mutagen behind the glassed containers, the top of which reached far beyond their reach and was left open. He would keep this information to himself, trusting only a few with this discovery and they too would keep the secret.
His second attempt was during lights out, a mission to search for others in a similar situation and more exploration. What he found shocked him as he stumbled upon a room not dissimilar to his own though with much fewer people amongst which was Mr. O'neil and Baxter Stockman. The latter of which was but the man's brain floating in the fluids of his fragile humanoid suit and the prior sleeping during the lights out. Stockman unsurprisingly worked even in the dimmed room. His return, thankfully unsuspected, was met with whispered cheers and sighs of relief. He explained more of his exploration discoveries; an exit he had come across and confirmed their prior assumptions of others being trapped as well. Some hadn't slept that night.
This pattern of escape and return continued as throughout their plans continued to develop, be revised until it was finalized. They were ready, until the accident. Don hadn't returned, taken to solitary confinement once caught and kept there for two days before his return. His schedule was similar to before though his working hours were spent in thought as the small box offered little space for anything else. He'd sit there worried for the team, angry at the Kraang, and hopeful for his brother's arrival.
His return was met with little reception, although forced to continue working some began to cry during their studies, relieved of his presence. Others while passing his being would pat his shell offering whispers of joy. It was later he was told of two others death. One, David, a young man whos attempts of sneaking out in his place and hadn't returned and Anna; an older woman who willingly accepted her chosen fate. This saddened him greatly, unshed tears in his eyes as he took a moment of silence for their untimely demise.
The plan continued as strategized through without so much reliance on the turtle to fight their battles. The few younger guys with the muscle mass offered help for the more physically straining activities. Don agreed albeit with some hesitation. They knew this would be their last attempt seeing as his next strike may not allow him to return. The machine, no matter their slowed progress, was near finished.
Unfortunately, the security for their prison was heavily monitored more guards and cameras audio and footage of their every living moment within the cell. This had to be planned with precision they strategized for days with only months on the clock as to whether or not the machine would be finished and mutagen perfected.
The lasting attempt was partially a success. For one they managed to escape, using the exit Don had previously mentioned. They hadn't managed to free the many others but promised themselves to return. To help in taking down the alien forces and save all. He didn't manage to get out... instead brought into what Don could guess was an operating room.
His body paralyzed he was strapped to a table. He watched the Kraang bots ready for operation. General Kraang was contacted to which a simple answer was raised.
He couldn't run without legs.
The pain was excruciating, Don's screams were muted as though his body unmoving it felt the pain of the splitting flesh and skin blistering heat of the beam. The laser burning through muscle and bone. Even when the laser stopped seconds later the pain continued, black dots blanketed his vision. He hadn't bled out seeing as the beam both sliced and cauterized the flesh. Tears seeped through widened eyes and a muted scream.
Here he worked, in a wheelchair which moved within certain limits. Thrust into a differing room to work with new strangers to stare and frighten. During lights out, he is taken to confinement until the next working hours to come. Alone in that small space, he'd cry.
Sirens echoed the ship as Kraang bots ran pass his room with mention of the turtles. A smile on his tearstained face.
"They're here"